Nextel Cup

The 10 drivers competing in NASCAR's Chase for the Nextel Cup championship, in order of points: MATT KENSETH Team: Roush Racing Car: No. 17 DeWalt Tools Ford Chase points: First, 6,008 Position change: None What happened: Kenseth was thrilled with his fourth-place finish at Atlanta because his team worked so hard to achieve it after the car they unloaded was junk. Now he's starting to believe the Nextel Cup title is attainable. Speaking: "I feel like other people's trouble kind of put us in the lead.

When he met with print and radio media Saturday morning in the Pocono Raceway media center, Neil Goldberg, ESPN's senior motorsports producer, talked about his network's mission covering NASCAR. "We want to tell a story with each broadcast," he said. "We to give the viewers someone to root for and someone to root against." Goldberg's job to keep an audience riveted was difficult on Sunday as Kurt Busch was largely unchallenged in winning the Pennsylvania 500 with one of the most dominant cars in Pocono history.

DOUBLE OOPS Tony Stewart wasn't happy after wrecking just 10 laps into Sunday's Dover 400. Stewart was frustrated that he'd spun out on his own, but he was more upset about taking out Kasey Kahne, a contender in the Chase for the Nextel Cup. "Wrecking is one thing, but when you take somebody that's in the Chase, you've screwed up a whole team's year by one race," Stewart said. "And of all people, it's one of my good friends." Kahne started the day in eighth place, 110 points back of the leader.

ROBBY GORDON SUSPENDED NASCAR officials removed Robby Gordon from the field of Sunday's race, citing the driver's "blatant disrespect and disregard on multiple occasions" of NASCAR directives. Gordon was the central figure in a controversial finish to the Busch Series race in Montreal on Saturday night. Gordon believed he was in first -- and at worst, second -- when the caution flag was waved with four laps to go. But NASCAR said a spin by Gordon left him unable to maintain his position and ordered him back to 13th.

Before the season, there were only two drivers you could bet the farm on making this year's Chase for the Nextel Cup -- Tony Stewart and Jimmie Johnson. The rest all had their flaws: Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards each had only one season of proof. Last season's hiccups cast shadows of doubt over Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Matt Kenseth barely made it into last year's Chase; Kurt Busch switched teams; Ryan Newman is an accident waiting to happen; and Mark Martin has one foot out the door toward retirement.

The lesson, if there is one, in Jimmie Johnson's run to the Nextel Cup is this: It's not about the highs, but rather how one handle the lows. Johnson's season began with the suspension of his crew chief, a distraction that could have derailed his entire season, or, at the very least, been cause for a slow start. Neither happened. Instead, Johnson won the Daytona 500, then followed that up with a second, a second win and a sixth-place finish, all with Chad Knaus on the sidelines. A midseason swoon (for Johnson that means going 11 races without a win, yet maintaining the points lead)

For all the talk about the dominance of the nine Roush and Hendrick cars, the 2005 NASCAR season is playing out as one of the most wide open in recent history. Through 11 races, 18 drivers remain within 400 points of the leader compared to just 13 at this time last year and 12 in '02 and '03. What's more, six drivers are within 100 points of 10th place, setting up what could become a Kentucky Derby-like finish come September when the circuit returns to Richmond, where the field will be jockeying for a spot in the 10-race Chase for the Nextel Cup. According to Kasey Kahne, NASCAR's new aero package -- a shorter spoiler and softer tires -- have made the cars tougher to handle which, in turn, has tightened things up. "It's just tougher to race side by side with people," said Kahne, who picked up his first career Cup victory on Saturday.

Kurt Busch will run in a car race today that could change his life forever. If he wins the Ford 400 or finishes with enough points to beat chasers Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Mark Martin, he'll be the 2004 Nextel Cup champion. In the eyes of the old school race fan, that would be poetic justice. When NASCAR President Brian France came up with the idea of the Chase for the Championship, many of those fans cried conspiracy, claiming France and Co. were setting up the win for Earnhardt Jr. Really, though, all France wanted was an exciting finish to pump up television ratings, something that didn't happen a year ago when the robotic Matt Kenseth put it in cruise control with more than 10 races to go. Now, France has got his ratings -- according to Nielsen, they're up 10 percent from last year -- but with it comes the possibility of NASCAR crowning one of its least popular champions ever.

Here's how tight the Chase for the Championship is: Kurt Busch, the current points leader, could finish second in this Sunday's season finale at Homestead-Miami and still lose the Nextel Cup. Busch holds a slim 18-point lead over Jimmie Johnson, who won again this past weekend to make it four wins in five races. If Johnson were to win Sunday's Ford 400 and lead the most laps, he would earn 190 points. If Busch took second but did not lead a lap, he'd receive 170, giving Johnson the championship by two points.

He's the defending series champion, but so far Kurt Busch has gone relatively unnoticed in the days leading up to the beginning of the 2005 NASCAR season. Much of the attention heading into Sunday's Daytona 500, which will kick off the '05 season, has surrounded Jimmie Johnson, winner of the Budweiser Shootout all-star race; Dale Earnhardt Jr., who has shown a chink in the armor that in past years made him the odds-on favorite to win any restrictor plate race; and rules changes ranging from guaranteed starting spots to smaller restrictor plates.

Rod Beck, a former All-Star relief pitcher most notably with the Giants, was found dead at age 38; foul play not suspected. Phillies lose another starting pitcher over the weekend; this time Jon Lieber with a ruptured tendon in his right foot. Juan Pablo Montoya becomes the first foreign-born driver (Colombia) in 33 years (third-ever overall) to win a Nextel Cup race. Oregon State Beavers become first team in a decade to win consecutive national conference titles after sweeping the North Carolina Tar Heels.

There were a lot of questions about NASCAR's newest young guns heading into the 2006 season. None of them had to do with Denny Hamlin. Instead, everyone wanted to know how Carl Edwards would back up his remarkable run in 2005; if Brian Vickers would finally get his first win; and if Kyle Busch could prove what many suspected -- that he's actually better than his older brother. But as the season neared its end, with Edwards mired in a major losing streak, Vickers sitting in hot water for wrecking his teammate and Busch limping towards the finish line, there was Hamlin battling for the championship of the whole darn series.

The lesson, if there is one, in Jimmie Johnson's run to the Nextel Cup is this: It's not about the highs, but rather how one handle the lows. Johnson's season began with the suspension of his crew chief, a distraction that could have derailed his entire season, or, at the very least, been cause for a slow start. Neither happened. Instead, Johnson won the Daytona 500, then followed that up with a second, a second win and a sixth-place finish, all with Chad Knaus on the sidelines. A midseason swoon (for Johnson that means going 11 races without a win, yet maintaining the points lead)

Figure this one out: Under NASCAR's new Chase for the Nextel Cup points system, Jimmie Johnson leads Matt Kenseth by 17 points with two races to go. Under the old points system, Kenseth would be leading Johnson by just 35 points. "That's pretty interesting," Kenseth said earlier this week. "So really the Chase isn't laid out that much different than the old system. It's 10 races instead of 36, but the system is basically the same." Yes and no. Johnson and Kenseth have clearly been the class of the field this season, so it's only fitting they are one-two as the chase for the championship comes to a head.

The 10 drivers competing in NASCAR's Chase for the Nextel Cup championship, in order of points: MATT KENSETH Team: Roush Racing Car: No. 17 DeWalt Tools Ford Chase points: First, 6,008 Position change: None What happened: Kenseth was thrilled with his fourth-place finish at Atlanta because his team worked so hard to achieve it after the car they unloaded was junk. Now he's starting to believe the Nextel Cup title is attainable. Speaking: "I feel like other people's trouble kind of put us in the lead.

Coming into the 2005 season, there were two glaring omissions in Jimmie Johnson's relatively short but accomplished career -- a restrictor plate win and a NASCAR championship. Saturday night, Johnson checked off missing item No. 1 by winning the Budweiser Shootout. Less than 24 hours later he claimed a spot in the front row for Sunday's Daytona 500. If he wasn't already, Johnson is now the clear-cut favorite to win this year's Nextel Cup. "We accept it," Johnson said. "Being the preseason favorite is a result of what happens the year leading into this one."

The September morning after Kevin Harvick and Jeff Burton qualified for the 2006 Chase for the Nextel Cup, their boss Richard Childress hopped on a plane bound for Alaska. Three flights and 10 hours later, he landed in Chistochina, a blink-of-an-eye town located in the south-central part of the state in a region known as the Copper River Valley. Childress had gone there to hunt Dall sheep; tough, high-country creatures that live on AlaskaM- s rugged mountainsides and one of four big-game species in North America that he hadnM- t bagged.

To risk it all and win, that's what a buddy once told me is how he tries to live his life. It brings up an interesting point M- to win it, you gotta risk it, right? And so we come to Jimmie Johnson's decision to go for the win Sunday at Talladega. By now we all know what happened M- Johnson, running in second behind Dale Earnhardt Jr., went for the pass on the final lap, got slammed into Earnhardt Jr.'s car by his teammate, Brian Vickers, who went on to win the race while Junior and Johnson finished 23rd and 24th, respectively.